Page 105 of A Rogues & Gentlemen Christmas

The finger slid back and forth and stole her reason.

He bent and nuzzled her breast, moaning quietly. “Ye do want me,” he said, the words full of masculine pride and tinged with awe. “Ye need me here, ye need me badly, don’t ye?”

It was difficult to form an answer as her brain had ceased to function, only her body responded now, though the words were dragged from some dim part of her mind through the thick fog of desire.

“Yes, yes,” she said. “Yes, please.”

“Hmmm,” he said, the sound a rumble that thrummed through his chest and into her.

He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her stomach, swirling his tongue around her navel as she squirmed beneath him.

“Ah-ha,” he said, amusement lighting his dark eyes as he raised his head. “Ticklish?”

“N-No,” she protested, and then squealed as he did it again, wriggling his tongue into her navel until she shrieked and gave in. “Yes, yes,” she admitted. “I am.”

Ned chuckled, his breath huffing against her skin and setting her to shivering again. The sensation began inside her too, her body quivering inside and out as his mouth trailed hot kisses over her, his tongue painting a line down the juncture of her thigh. He moved down the bed, spreading her legs wide and bending his large frame to the task. Grace clutched at the bedclothes beneath her, tension singing through her until he parted the delicate folds of her private flesh and swept over her with his tongue.

She made a sound, so wanton and so loud she could hardly believe it. For a moment she stilled, wondering if she’d shocked him, but then she heard a huff of amusement, the little breath of air against her oversensitive skin enough to make her whimper.

“Like that, did ye?” he murmured. “Let’s see what else pleases my lady.”

It seemed a great deal pleased her as his clever tongue sent her spiralling into that giddy, wonderful place where her body was nothing but sensation and she knew only pleasure. She climaxed with a ferocious cry, her fingers clutching at his hair as waves of intense joy rippled through her.

She looked up, incoherent and dazed still to discover Ned moving over her, taking his place between her legs.

“I can’t wait any longer, love,” he said, sounding almost apologetic.

Grace thought that rather funny and laughed a little as she slid her arms around him, her legs sliding over the backs of his as she lifted her hips to him.

“Me either,” she managed, before his mouth covered hers and he was pushing inside her.

“Oh, love, you’re so tight, I don’t want to hurt ye,” he said, though the words were edged with desperation.

“You won’t,” she said, stroking his back to soothe away his concerns. “Don’t stop.”

He filled her in one, strong thrust and then stilled as she gasped and clung to him, his powerful frame trembling in her arms.

“Grace?” he said, seeking reassurance that she was not hurt.

She couldn’t answer for a moment, not from pain, but from the strange sensation, the fullness. It wasn’t comfortable, but it didn’t hurt.

“I’m fine,” she managed, though it sounded breathless. “Don’t stop.”

Carefully, he moved again, and this time when he slid home, it was easier. Grace felt the tension leave her body by degrees as he moved and the first tendrils of pleasure at the feel of him inside her.

“Oh,” she said, smiling now.

Ned lifted his head, such a look in his eyes that her heart expanded, filling her chest so completely that she felt she might burst from happiness. She reached up and touched his face.

“I love you,” she said.

He made a sound, incoherent but heartfelt, as he sought her mouth and kissed her.

There was nothing else said after that, only sounds of pleasure and ecstatic cries as they discovered the happiness to be found in their union. As the peak shimmered behind her eyes once more, Grace clung to him, laughing as joy glittered through her.

Ned’s powerful frame shuddered, and the sound he made as he took his pleasure and spilled inside her was raw and fierce and made her feel alive in a way she’d never known possible.

“Gracie,” he said, once he could speak again. He rolled to one side and pulled her into his arms, kissing her over and over. “My beautiful Gracie.”